The 48-year-old is also one of the most well-known activists in the Arab world, with more than 185,000 followers on Twitter.

Another jailed activist, Mahdi’ Issa Mahdi Abu Deeb, a teachers’ trade union leader who has been in jail since his arrest in 2011, told Amnesty he and a fellow accused were not agitating against Bahrain’s rulers.

“As for the charges against me and Jalila [Jalila al-Salman, a fellow teachers’ union leader and mother of three], no one thinks they are right: we did not call for the fall of the regime – we are people in the education system.”

Bahrain silent

On 14 February 2011, peaceful protesters took over an iconic Bahraini monument, Pearl Roundabout. Three days later security forces cleared the site using tear gas, batons and birdshot.

At least two protesters died and hundreds were injured.

As violence escalated 35 people, including five police officers, were killed, hundreds more were hurt and thousands jailed in February and March 2011.

The vast majority were Shia Muslims in a country ruled by a minority Sunni royal family.

Since then, opposition and human rights activists say another 45 people have been killed, a figure which the government disputes.

…

Although many people have been released, 13 activists and politicians including the leader of the secular Waad party, Ibrahim Sharif, remain in jail.

They have been convicted and in some cases given life sentences on evidence that is widely accepted to have been obtained under torture.

No one from the Bahraini government was available to comment on Amnesty’s charges.